Currently, Kageura Keiichiro was living together with Reizei Akino.
Initially, he had planned to stay at a suitable hotel, but following Akino’s suggestion, he ended up renting a portion of the several floors she occupied in her building.
And for free, at that.
The building serving as his base was a skyscraper, prominent even amidst the urban cityscape.
It was Akino’s office, with the uppermost floors designated as her living quarters.
Only Akino herself and the maids attending to her resided there.
“It can’t be helped, but this is a bit inconvenient,” Keiichiro grumbled inside the ascending elevator.
For security reasons, there was no elevator that went directly to the residential area.
Therefore, one had to first go up to the top floor of the section used as offices and then switch to a different elevator.
The room where that elevator was located was—the president’s office.
“Welcome back.”
When Keiichiro opened the door to the president’s office, Akino was there, facing her desk.
Right now, she wasn’t an Adventurer.
Thus, she wasn’t wearing the crimson dress he had seen before.
“I hear the Dungeon攻略 (conquest) went smoothly,” Akino said, dressed in a suit.
Seeing her working like this, it was hard to believe she was younger than him.
Her aura likely contributed to that impression.
“You knew?”
“I received a report from Natsume.”
“Ah… right, that makes sense.”
Ibara Natsume had served as the Dungeon Supervisor for this recent Dungeon.
Her employer was Akino.
It was only natural that she would report on Keiichiro.
“How was it? The D-Rank.”
“Yeah. It seemed like I could handle a slightly higher rank next time without issue.”
As Keiichiro answered, Akino pondered.
“In that case, I shall prepare a C-Rank Dungeon for you next.”
“That’d be a great help.”
He expressed his gratitude.
Even if she had her own motives, her willingness to cooperate this much was significant.
It would likely have been impossible for Keiichiro alone to win the bid for Dungeon exploration rights.
“Speaking of which, sorry to keep asking favors, but—”
“?”
“Could you—arrange a B-Rank Raid?”
Keiichiro asked.
A B-Rank Raid.
In other words, a B-Rank Dungeon攻略 (conquest) involving multiple parties.
Since the exploration involves anywhere from ten to several dozen people, even high-difficulty Dungeons become easier to clear.
Although the experience points get split due to the large number of participants, the base experience is high because the Monsters are high-rank.
If one performs adequately, it should allow for more efficient leveling than clearing a C-Rank Dungeon alone.
“Let me see—I shall do my best. However, I believe that will take some time. Is that acceptable?”
“I understand. Raids are rare to begin with. It won’t be easy to find one if we’re specifying the rank.”
“I will look into some possibilities, but I cannot arrange it immediately.”
He nodded at Akino’s words.
Even Keiichiro didn’t expect to find a Raid recruitment easily.
Besides, a B-Rank Raid meant fighting an A-Rank Boss Monster.
That was a bit much for the current Keiichiro.
In fact, Keiichiro had requested a higher rank precisely because he anticipated it might take several months just to find a Raid recruitment notice.
“Ah, speaking of which—”
“?”
Something suddenly came to mind.
Keiichiro reached into his pocket.
His fingertips brushed against something hard.
“This is—”
What Keiichiro took out was a ring.
An Item Drop he had just obtained from the previous Dungeon.
He offered it to Akino.
“?!”
Akino shot up from her seat with tremendous force.
She stared back at Keiichiro, looking utterly incredulous.
“Er, ah, um—”
Akino seemed unable to form words properly.
He had seen her display excellent negotiation skills several times before.
Because of that, he couldn’t fathom why she was so flustered.
As Keiichiro tilted his head in confusion—
“K-Kageura-sama…?”
Akino averted her gaze.
This was also unusual behavior for her.
Moreover, her cheeks looked slightly flushed.
“Kageura-sama, what are your thoughts… on the act of giving a ring to a woman…?”
“…………………………I see.”
Keiichiro understood.
Apparently, he was the one acting unexpectedly.
(I only saw it as equipment, but it certainly is a ring.)
A man giving a ring to a woman.
He wasn’t foolish enough not to understand the implications.
“My bad. I didn’t mean anything by it. This is an Item Drop from the Dungeon earlier.”
“…Why are you giving it to me?”
Now it was Akino’s turn to tilt her head.
However, it wasn’t anything complicated.
Keiichiro frankly stated his thoughts.
“Today’s Dungeon攻略 (conquest) was a special first step for me. So, I wanted you—Reizei—to have this, the memento of that step.”
Reizei Akino was Kageura Keiichiro’s sponsor.
It was a step he could only take because of her help.
That’s precisely why he wanted Akino, not himself, to have this ring.
He wanted to share the memory.
“That’s the reason, but…”
Keiichiro scratched his head as he spoke.
He hadn’t expected to unintentionally perform an action resembling a marriage proposal.
Perhaps it was a side effect of his Adventurer lifestyle; it was Keiichiro’s mistake for seeing the ring only as an ‘attribute-enhancing item’.
“In the end… it doesn’t really change much, does it?”
“?”
Akino muttered something under her breath and turned away.
Her face remained red.
As Keiichiro considered how to respond to Akino, she extended her right hand towards him.
Without a word, without even looking at him.
She simply held out her hand.
The back of her hand faced Keiichiro.
“Um…”
Keiichiro, still not quite grasping the situation, couldn’t move.
Then, Akino opened her mouth, sounding slightly exasperated.
“Kageura-sama, do you intend to tell a lady, ‘Put the ring on yourself’?”
—Apparently, she wasn’t opposed to receiving the ring.
The fingertips pointed towards Keiichiro were an indication that she wanted him to place the ring on her finger himself.
“Sorry for being slow on the uptake.”
Keiichiro approached Akino.
Then, they faced each other across the desk.
He took Akino’s hand.
A soft, white hand.
It was a slender, beautiful hand, hard to believe it belonged to the [Paladin] who protected her allies from enemies on the battlefield.
Keiichiro slowly slid the ring onto her finger—
“Ah, I put it on your ring finger, was that okay?”
“It is!?”
☆
“Ngh…”
After getting out of the bath.
Keiichiro noticed an electronic sound ringing in his room.
“What’s up?”
The source of the sound was his smartphone.
It seemed like he had received a message.
“…Who is it?”
Unfortunately, he wasn’t someone with a wide circle of friends.
He could think of few people who would contact his phone.
The first ones that came to mind were the members of 【Holy Sword】, but—
(It’s probably not Kurenai and the others, right?)
Keiichiro had been expelled just the other day.
There was bound to be an awkward atmosphere, making it hard to talk.
That should apply not just to him.
Keiichiro’s feelings towards the members of 【Holy Sword】 hadn’t changed.
He believed their feelings towards him hadn’t changed either.
However, that aside, he didn’t think now was the right time for exchanging messages.
“Ngh—”
Checking the sender, Keiichiro paused.
The name displayed on the screen was—Tsukigase Tsukasa.
The person he had just met today.
Heyyy
That was all the message said.
He couldn’t tell what Tsukasa wanted to say.
"Thank you for today"... and send.
Keiichiro tossed his phone onto the bed.
However, not even five seconds passed before the electronic sound chimed again.
He sighed and picked up the phone.
What kind of reaction is that!?
—The reaction of someone who finds this bothersome.
Was ignoring you the right answer?
You're being surprisingly cold T_T
Replies arrived so quickly that Keiichiro barely had time to put his phone down.
As expected of a young person, perhaps. His typing speed was fast.
Although, Keiichiro himself was technically still within the bounds of youth.
I actually had something to talk about with Keiichiro-oniichan today.
Tsukasa sent consecutive messages without waiting for Keiichiro’s response.
As he stared at the phone screen—
Wanna dive into a Dungeon with us tomorrow? It's C-Rank~
What Tsukasa proposed was a Dungeon攻略 (conquest).
The rank was C.
A difficulty level that wasn’t a problem for Keiichiro either.
However, something else caught his attention more than that.
—Tsukasa had asked if he wanted to dive with ‘us’.
Which meant—
Are you part of a Party?
That Tsukasa belonged to a Party.
When they met before, there hadn’t been anyone around who looked like a party member.
Besides, it was surprising that there was a Party willing to put up with his eccentric behavior.
Nope? Basically freelance, I guess.
It seemed his assumption was correct.
Then is it okay for you to invite me without asking?
The leader said they wanted one more person, so it's fine. Probably.
Oi.
So, whatcha gonna do, Oniichan?
Tsukasa pressed him.
Keiichiro naturally sat down on the bed.
He then brought a hand to his chin and thought.
“…C-Rank, huh.”
An unexpected invitation.
This certainly wasn’t a bad thing for him.
After all, he had just made the same request to Akino.
(The sticking point is partying with adventurers I don’t even know…)
That was the problem.
Just because they were adventurers didn’t mean they were all ruffians.
But it was also true that trouble tended to arise easily.
(Well, Raids are kind of similar, so I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later.)
Lives and large sums of money were on the line.
Some level of conflict was unavoidable, no matter what.
Even the strongest party, 【Holy Sword】, had adventurers who picked fights with them.
‘How about this: I’ll meet your party tomorrow, and if the leader gives permission, I’ll join you?’
He would accept some risk.
That was Keiichiro’s answer.
‘Yeah. I think that’s best.’
Tsukasa replied immediately.
As expected, he seemed to agree with getting the party leader’s permission.
Adventurers who neglected these procedures tended to make enemies easily.
If they belonged to a party, others would gradually distance themselves.
If they were freelancers, they wouldn’t get invited in the future.
It meant that manners and etiquette were considered necessary for adventurers too.
‘I’m really looking forward to going to the dungeon with Kageura-oniichan~’
Now that Keiichiro had agreed to join them, Tsukasa sent such a message.
‘Even though it was D-Rank, it looked like you cleared the dungeon all by yourself.’
Tsukasa had seen Keiichiro emerge from the dungeon.
—And that no one else came out after him.
Tsukasa knew that Keiichiro had ‘cleared the dungeon solo’.
That must have been why he became interested in him, leading to this invitation.
‘Well then, good night! Even if I appear in your dreams, no touching, okay!’
Such a joking message appeared on the screen.
“‘As if I would’…”
Muttering this, he placed his smartphone on the bed.
Then he stood up.
“…Time for bed.”
Tomorrow was the dungeon dive.
Keiichiro, challenging a C-Rank dungeon with an impromptu party.
What will be the outcome of this venture?